Seal-lock



(No M0del.).

s. E. ALLEN.

SEAL LOOK. No. 355,961. Patented Jan. 11, 1887.

I I 2' I INVENTOR UNTTEE STATES PATENT EETEE.

SYDNEY E. ALLEN, OF WINSTON, NORTH CAROLINA.

SEAL-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 355,961, dated January 11, 1887.

Application filed September 17, 1886. Serial No. 913,782. No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SYDNEY E. ALLEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Winston', in the connty of Forsyth and State of North Carolina, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Seal-Locks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enablefothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain improvements in seal-locks for railway-car and other doors, and it has for its object the construction of a device which will record the times and places of the opening of the door to which it is attached.

Vith this object in view my invention consists in the provision, hereinafter fully described, whereby severed heads of lead rivets will be delivered into a suitable receptacle in the order in which they were severed, access to which receptacle can only be had from the interior of the car.

In sealing the lock, the rivet-head is placed downward audits point or upper end is upset or flattened, and at the same time the head is impressed with a designationto indicate the station at which the car was sealed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my securing device attached to the doors of a freight-car; and Fig. 2 is a cross-section on line am, Fig. 1. Fig. 3illustrates an enlarged form of the lead rivet or seal employed with my device. Figs. 4 and 5 are horizontal sections on the line g 3 Fig. 1, showing the hasp in its closed and openpositions.

Similar letters denote like parts in the several figures.

A A represent the right and left hand doors of a freight-car.

B B represent a hinge, the stationary leaf B of which is fastened to the left-hand door,A, of the car at such point that the movable leaf or hasp B will, when in locked position, extend across thejoining line of the doors A A and fit over a staple, 0, attached to the door A, the said staple extending through a slotin the leaf or hasp B. B is in position over the staple O, a lock is applied to the said staple to secure the car.

WVhen the leaf or hasp Upon the stationary leaf B and the movable leaf or hasp B, I mount seal-holding devices or lugs D D. Lug D is stationary and is formed upon the stationary leaf B of the hinge,and a similarly-shaped lug, D, upon the movable leaf or hasp B. These lugs are provided through their contiguous faces with registering-openings E E, the said openings being made flaring at their mouths and formed with cutting-edges at their point ofjuncture with each other.

Below the hinged leafsections B B, at a point directly beneath the seal-holding lugs D D, I provide a flaring-mouthed tube,F,which is bent inwardly at F, and extends through the door to the interior of the car and into a locked receptacle, H, therein.

The car being ready for sealing, the hasp B is straightened out and over the staple C, which will cause the openings E E in the sealfholding lugs D D to register. A look of any preferred form is now applied to the staple O.

Through the openings E Eofthe lugs D D is inserted a lead rivet or seal, G, having a head, G, formed upon one end, which headed end is placed downward or underneath, and when in position the opposite end of said seal or rivet is upset or flattened by a suitable press or pinchers made for this purpose, and which impresses upon the lower head of the rivet a figure, name, or other designation to indicate the station at which the car was sealed, and also upon the upper or upset head a device Which will prevent its being tampered with without plainly showing such tampering by the marring of such impression. The cardoor being opened at another place or station,

the hasp B,in the act of being raised from the staple G, will, by means of the cutting-edges of the seal-holding lugs D D, cut the rivet G in half, causing the-head G to fall into the tube F and through the same into a suitablelocked receptacle, H, in'the interior of the car, where it will be retained. In the event of the door being opened a number of times, there will be a corresponding number of. heads of rivets or seals in the receptacle, each with a different mark or imprint upon it and in the same order in which they were dropped, giving a clear record of the times and places at which the car was opened. The agent at the end of the route will remove theseal-heads in the same order in which they entered the locked receptacle from the tube, making a record of the same and forwarding them to a general agent or oflicial, who, upon being advised of the loss of an article from the car, can at once trace it to the points at which the car was opened, thus obviating the necessity of going 1. The combination,with stationary leaf B, movable leaf or hasp B, with seal holding lugs D D, mounted on said leaf and hasp, and having the cutting edged registering holes formed through their contiguous faces, of the tube F, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, in a seal-lock, of a sealholding device having cutting-edges with a receiving device consisting of a tube and a V locked receptacle for receiving and retaining the severed seals, substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SYDNEY E. ALLEN.

\Vitnesses:

W. M. NIssEN, CHAS. S. J oHNsoN. 

